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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

does anyone put their newborns to sleep on their front?

70 replies

quokka · 27/02/2006 11:50

My 4 week DS seems so much happier on his front, and falls asleep straight away. When I turn him over or settle him in his cot to sleep on his back he wakes or cries. Just wanted to see if anyone ignores the warnings of front sleeping? My DS has very good head control already and seems to be very strong, does this make a difference?

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Original poster

quokka · 28/02/2006 08:33

Well I still haven't made my mind up but am going to do some more research. I am just just looking at him now lying on his front on his mat happy as larry, no doubt he will be asleep in about 30 secs - thanks for all the messages xx.

OP posts:

hub2dee · 28/02/2006 08:46

Yes, the mattress wrapping is a scare-mongering money spinner based on (very limited and poorly interpreted) flawed research. The major cot death associations do not support the mattress wrapping suggestions or products.

If it might help anyone (whether front sleeper or back), we have used a respiration monitor called a BabySense which sounds an alarm if the baby stops breathing. Some find this OTT and ceates more anxiety, but for us it was the exact opposite. I particularly chose to use it as dd was 1 month prem with IUGR. Also allows you to glance at the crib in the dark and see a reassuring flash of a light to indicate movement / breath. Again, this might not be for you, but I know it helped us sleep at night !

HTH

parkj83 · 28/02/2006 09:09

My DS slept on his front from about 3 weeks.

I was worried about doing it, cos I had an old mattress (one of my mum's), which was foam one end, and waterproof plastic the other.

I had huge problems sleeping myself, I had 3 infections plus I was anaemic. My mum came over one evening, and saw the palaver. She put him on his front, with a towel to catch any sick (I had to switch from B/F to bottle as he made me so sore, and it didn't agree with him), plus to cover the cold plastic end.

I did worry a bit, but he was asleep in minutes, so I just left him to it. He's nearly 3 now, and even now still likes sleeping on his front.

PS he also hated being swaddled. I carried extra fluid through the pregnancy, so he was doing somersaults right up to his birth! :o

poppadum · 28/02/2006 09:28

My father is a pediatrician in India and advises side-sleeping, with a pillow propping them up so they don't fall on their faces. I also co-slept with both babies from the time they were four months old. Co-sleeping is very popular all over Asia; actually it's considered very strange and downright cruel to put your baby in a separate cot or room. But there are virtually no SIDs cases. I think it has to do with the duvets and extra wrappings in the Uk, or perhaps more cases of smoking? very curious.

kittyfish · 28/02/2006 09:42

Statistically speaking there are very few sids deaths in this country but it doesn't mean I would take the risk. Co-sleeping has been stated as a factor in both preventing and causing sids, there are socio-economic factors involved etc. At the end of the day it is safer to put a baby on its back to sleep. Ragtaggle - I think your doctor friend was not being terribly professional in telling you that if your home is smoke-free and your child the correct temperature back-sleeping makes no difference.

dionnelorraine · 28/02/2006 10:12

my dd slept on her back until she was 4 mths. That was when she started rolling so she rolled herself onto her front. She is now 13 mths, sleeps in all funny positions and has a pillow, which cant do without! My friends dd is about 3 wks old in a cot in her own room and sleeps on her front. she cant sleep otherwise!

lisalisa · 25/03/2006 20:59

nulnulcat - if you're still around I wonder if you could help me wiht reflux. Ds has just been diagnosed aged 4 months and we're going through hell with excessive screaming periods of hours at a time, poor sleeping and drooling, burping and vomiting. He's on rinitadrine and dom peridon but not working so far.

What worked for your dd if anything?

nulnulcat · 25/03/2006 21:20

tbh the medication didnt do much to help, she was diagnosed at 3 weeks and before then we had the endless screaming and projectile vomiting she was hospitalised as she wasnt keeping feeds down and the vomiting had caused her throat problems but the hospital gave me loads of advice, you probably have already done this but have you angled the cot mattress? i stuck a rolled up towel at the head end so it meant she would never lie down flat they also told me to try and get her to sleep more on her side rather than flat on her back - personally this didnt work and she preferred to be on her tummy. feeding was the biggest problem when i was feeding her i had to keep her more upright and after a feed dont put her down for at least 20 mins which was a bit of a pain in the middle of the night but it did stop the screaming and vomiting. in the end i weaned her early as she wasnt gaining weight very well and this helped more than any medication she was ever on

nulnulcat · 25/03/2006 21:24

and i also got ashtons teething powders - they are homeopathic and are great for any unsettledness - sorry think i made that word up! but they really calmed dd down as i found the more she screamed the worse she got. it is hell to go through so i really sympathise but the strangest thing is one day the screaming just stops! the first time she slept through the night without screaming was when she was about 8 months and i flew into her rooom so fast i thought she was dead or something

donnie · 25/03/2006 21:26

only you can decide but like other posters, my dd1 was a TERRIBLE sleeper until we started putting her on her front, after which she slept through after 3 nights ( having previously slept in bursts of 20 - 30 mins).I thing you have to follow your instincts but of the child has good head control maybe it is worth atry.

lisalisa · 25/03/2006 21:27

nulnulcat - thanks for respondng and your last post really made me smile. I've never heard of Ashtons teething powders as a remedy. Do you give it once she starts to cry or before ? I've elevated teh cot mattress yes but he just slips down after a few hours. Medications not working here either. Did you try thickened feeds? Enfamil is the one I think although it may need a prescription.

nulnulcat · 25/03/2006 21:33

lisa i just gave her the powders as soon as she started grizzling and if i was having a really bad time i would give her them every hour - it is safe to do so. you can buy them in most chemists a friend told me about them and i used them for nearly everthing and im not one of these hippie type mums far from it! i was given thickeners by the hospital but would have been difficult as i was breastfeeding and i couldnt express and to be honest i read the ingrediants on them and wasnt convinced i wanted to give her that sort of stuff. there is a formula for reflux that is a bit thicker its called stay down. have you seen a consultant yet? have they ruled out pyloric stenosis? it can be similar to reflux

nulnulcat · 25/03/2006 21:35

still cant get the milk stains out of the carpet!! and the most memorable was on a flight to spain she covered 4 rows of passengers pretty impressive it was!!!

JoolsToofedupofbeingbijouxdeux · 25/03/2006 21:35

I put all 3 on their fronts to sleep - as you say quokka they seem to settle far better.

Mind you that was the 70's and things have changed since then!!!

nulnulcat · 25/03/2006 21:37

the formula is not on prescription you can get it in the chemist boots superdrug etc

ghosty · 25/03/2006 21:40

Interesting thread. I put both my children to sleep on their sides from birth. I swaddled DS from 8 weeks but swaddled DD from birth ...
By the time DD was 2 months she was rolling onto her back.
I live in NZ and I had a wrapped mattress for DD ... I only took it off last week (she is 2). People here take the facts seriously and statistics show that no baby has died of cot death on a wrapped mattress. I don't know if it is scaremongering personally, I met the inventor of the wrapped mattress in person and he seems a very genuine man. He told me he is 'persona non grata' in the UK because of his product and findings.
I am not going to get into a debate about this but I chose to get a wrapped mattress after reading up on all the info and felt that it was right for us.

donnie · 25/03/2006 21:51

ghosty, fascinating post - what is a wrapped mattress?

dreamteamgirl · 25/03/2006 22:07

Donnie

More info here \link{http://www.thediaperlady.com/BabeSafe.htm\matresses}

ghosty · 25/03/2006 22:23

Ok, Dr Sprott (sounds like something out of Star Trek!) devised a polythene wrapping of a certain thickness that goes around a baby's mattress that protects the baby from toxins that he believes are present in the mattress from foam and stuff like that.

donnie · 26/03/2006 20:09

thanks fro that laydees!

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